Utilizing unmanned aerial vehicles for emergency response

Abstract

In a particular embodiment, methods, systems, apparatuses, and computer program products for utilizing an unmanned aerial vehicle for emergency response are disclosed that include determining, by a UAV, a disinfection area; flying, by the UAV, over the determined disinfection area; and releasing, by the UAV, a disinfectant while flying over the determined disinfection area.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for utilizing an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for emergency response, the method comprising:
 determining, by a UAV, a disinfection area;   flying, by the UAV, over the determined disinfection area; and   releasing, by the UAV, a disinfectant while flying over the determined disinfection area.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein determining the disinfection area includes:
 receiving disinfection route information indicating a particular area to disinfect; 
 wherein flying over the determined disinfection area includes: 
 flying, based on the disinfection route information, over the determined disinfection area. 
 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining the disinfection area includes:
 monitoring with a UAV mounted sensor, an operational environment of the UAV;   applying, by the UAV, disinfection protocols to identify as the determined area, surfaces within the operational environment.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising determining, based on environmental conditions, disinfection route information to cover the determined disinfection area with disinfectant. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising determining, based on type and parameters of surfaces within the disinfection area, disinfection route information to cover the determined disinfection area with disinfectant. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  wherein releasing, by the UAV, a disinfectant while flying over the determined disinfection area includes spraying the disinfectant. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1  wherein releasing, by the UAV, a disinfectant while flying over the determined disinfection area includes opening a payload that includes the disinfectant. 
     
     
         8 . A method for utilizing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for emergency response, the method comprising:
 receiving, from one or more UAVs, by a server in a UAV transportation ecosystem, camera image data;   identifying from the camera image data, by the server, a disinfection area;   determining, by the server, disinfection route information for a particular UAV to perform a disinfection of the disinfection area; and   transmitting to the particular UAV, by the server, the disinfection route information.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8  wherein identifying from the camera image data, by the server, a disinfection area includes applying disinfection protocols to identify as the determined area, surfaces within the environment captured by the camera image data. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8  wherein determining, by the server, disinfection route information for a particular UAV to perform a disinfection of the disinfection area includes determining, based on environmental conditions, disinfection route information to cover the disinfection area with disinfectant. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8  wherein determining, by the server, disinfection route information for a particular UAV to perform a disinfection of the disinfection area includes determining, based on type of surfaces within the disinfection area, disinfection route information to cover the disinfection area with disinfectant. 
     
     
         12 . A method for utilizing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for emergency response, the method comprising:
 receiving, by a server in a UAV transportation ecosystem, disinfection area data;   accessing, by the server, UAV parameters for a type of UAV;   determining, by the server in dependence upon the disinfection area data and the UAV parameters, a number of UAVs needed to complete a coordinated aerial disinfection of a disinfection area within a time limit; and   partitioning, by the server, the disinfection area into a plurality of partitions, wherein the number of partitions is equal to the number of UAVs.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 allocating each partition of the plurality of partitions to a respective UAV of a plurality of UAVs; and   generating disinfection route information for each UAV of the plurality of UAVs.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising providing the disinfection route information to the plurality of UAVs. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein receiving, by a server of a UAV transportation ecosystem, disinfection area data includes receiving a request indicating the disinfection area, the type of UAV, and the time limit. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein determining, by the server in dependence upon the disinfection area data and the UAV parameters, a number of UAVs needed to complete a coordinated aerial disinfection of a disinfection area within a time limit includes determining, in dependence upon the UAV parameters, a maximum distance that can be disinfected by the type of UAV within the time limit; and
 wherein partitioning, by the server, the disinfection area into a plurality of partitions includes dividing the disinfection area into partitions each having a disinfection path length less than or equal to the maximum distance.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein determining, by the server in dependence upon the disinfection area data and the UAV parameters, a number of UAVs needed to complete a coordinated aerial disinfection of a disinfection area within a time limit includes:
 dividing the disinfection area into a plurality of monotonic partitions; and   determining a number of UAVs needed to complete a coordinated aerial disinfection of each monotonic partition within a time limit; and   wherein partitioning, by the server, the disinfection area into a plurality of partitions includes dividing, in dependence upon the number UAVs needed to disinfect each monotonic partition, each monotonic partition into subpartitions.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein receiving, by a server of a UAV transportation ecosystem, disinfection area data includes receiving an Application Program Interface (API) call; and
 wherein partitioning, by the server, the disinfection area into a plurality of partitions includes sending a response to the API call comprising partitioning data for the plurality of partitions.   
     
     
         19 . A method for utilizing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for emergency response, the method comprising:
 receiving, from a plurality of UAVs, by a server in a UAV transportation ecosystem, camera image data associated with a geographic area;   identifying from the camera image data, by the server, one or more persons within the geographic area; and   determining, by the server, whether the identified one or more persons violate location restriction regulations.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19  wherein determining, by the server, whether the identified one or more persons violate location restriction regulations includes:
 determining the distance between a first person and a second person; and 
 determining whether the distance between the first person and the second person is less than a predetermined threshold; 
 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 19  further comprising:
 in response to determining that the identified one or more persons violate the location restriction regulations, playing a message to the one or more persons. 
 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 19  wherein determining, by the server, whether the identified one or more persons violate location restriction regulations includes:
 determining whether the one or more persons are within a restricted area. 
 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 19  wherein determining, by the server, whether the identified one or more persons violate location restriction regulations includes:
 determining whether the one or more persons are in the geographic area during a restricted time period. 
 
     
     
         24 . A method of utilizing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for emergency response, the method comprising:
 receiving, by a UAV, an instruction to play a message to one or more persons at a particular location;   in response to receiving the instruction to play the message to the one or more persons at the particular location:
 flying, by the UAV, to the location; and 
 playing, by the UAV, the message to the one or more persons. 
   
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 24  further comprising receiving, by the UAV, route information for directing the UAV to the particular location. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 24  wherein playing, by the UAV, the message to the one or more persons includes broadcasting the message over speakers on the UAV. 
     
     
         27 . A method for utilizing unmanned aerial vehicles for emergency response, the method comprising:
 receiving, by a UAV, route instructions associated with a mission to deliver emergency supplies to a location;   in response to receiving the route instructions:
 flying, based on the route instructions, by the UAV, to the location; and 
 releasing, by the UAV, the emergency supplies. 
   
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 27  further comprising:
 retrieving in accordance with hygienic protocols, by the UAV, the emergency supplies. 
 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 27  wherein releasing, by the UAV, the emergency supplies includes:
 releasing in accordance with hygienic protocols, by the UAV, the emergency supplies.